Time to Eat

Recently, Doron published a photo of himself and the almost-finished guitar he is building.  Both looked good.  When questioned, he told me that his slim appearance is due to better nutrition habits.  Congratulations.  For various reasons, the subject of nutrition has been occupying my thoughts, and Doron's reply prompted me to share them in this post.

Michael Pollan, in his book In defense of food: An eater's manifesto, provides three rules for good nutrition:

Eat Food, not too much, mainly from plants.

These  concise and elegant rules describe my convictions, and I follow them, without being too religious about it.   In recent years, I found an additional rule that may not have been available to Pollan at the time of his writing.  I am convinced that the practice of Time Restricted Eating (TRE) contributes greatly to a healthy body.  Many of you already heard me say it, but on this subject, I don't mind being a nag.  So I hope Pollan won't mind if I modify his rules to read:

Eat Food, not too much and not at night, mainly from plants. 

Food

Pollan is contrasting food as obtained from nature, to processed food.  For example: steak is Food, hot-dog is not.  Obviously, there are different levels of processing, and it is up to us to define the level we are willing to tolerate.  Processed meat seems to be the worst of the lot, but anything that comes in a package is suspect.

Not too much

That's a hard one.  Some pretty solid research (See my post) shows that lack of protein forces us to overeat.  Eating enough protein reduces hunger before we gobble too many calories.  There is probably enough protein even in a plant-based diet, but just to make sure, I consume a daily (plant-based) protein supplement.  Another effective way to constrain our eating is through the practice of TRE.

Not at night

Based on his research on the Circadian rhythm, Dr. Satchin Panda is one of the early proponents of TRE.  In his papers, lectures, and books, he advocates the health benefits of such a regime.  He proposes a schedule which he calls the  "12/3", which means 12 hours without eating, including the three hours before going to sleep.  Longer TRE periods, such as the popular 16-hour TRE, provide additional benefits through the biological process of autophagy.

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Catering to my affection for organization charts (and the number Three) I expand a section of my post Searching for Happiness.   No new information.  Feel free to skip this part.

Comfort    To me, this is the basic level (See note) of contentment.  It is supported by three pillars: 

      Healthy Body    Active Mind    Love and Friendship
     

      Healthy body is achieved by:

            Good Nutrition    Vigorous Exercise    Deep Sleep

            The three rules for good nutrition:

                   Eat Food    Not too much and not at night    Mainly from plants

Note:  I realize that first, we must have a shelter to sleep, enough money for food, and spare time for exercise.